Through the Bible in one year - Day 3

Genesis 3:4-5, 22-24 

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Luke 1:57-80 

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her...And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors…and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Maybe you didn’t want to read all these verses together with me today, but it is hard to pick out just a few. As my mother used to say – ‘they are all so good.’

The thing I wish to mention about the Genesis passage I have highlighted is this comment from the serpent about “knowing good and evil.” That sounds like a good thing doesn’t it? Isn’t it what we try to teach our children; what is acceptable and what is not? However, at this point we know the Lord hasn’t given us the law. He actually had only said one thing, and that was not to eat of that particular fruit. Why? Well, if we were our children, sometimes the answer is – because I said so. Do we tell children not to go out at night because they might be stolen or ravaged or run over and killed-this knowledge may be too scary-too much for them to bear. No, sometimes we say don’t do it because it is unsafe. I am not saying this is the case here, but I did wonder about it. The serpent goes on to say that Adam and Eve will be ‘like God.’ I talked about this passage in the E100 and I really spent a lot of time pondering these phrases; they deserve our attention. (Here is a link to that previous post.) How exactly do we wish to be “like” God? Is it really that we wish to make our own choices of what is good and what is evil? Isn’t that what we see and hear a lot about in our world today? This relativistic good and evil.;“he had to do what was right by him” as Captain Jack Sparrow of movie fame would say. So then we get to the second section from Genesis, and this is where I am really saddened today. We lose our time in the Garden, we lose our eternal life. The cherubim are set to keep us out. How truly sad for us; sad, because we were already there, we already had everything we could possibly need – or want. God walked with us in the cool of the evening and all our food was provided-and we could do this for all eternity. Sure, now we like to rationalize saying we ‘need’ to make it on our own, that we ‘need’ to strive, and ‘earn’ what we get, but you know what? These are truly just rationalizations – ways for us to accept this lesser life we now have. And, now, all the time we spend trying to get back to that garden, and to find that intimacy with the Lord.

The reading from Luke is a beautiful story of hope, and I will not say too much about it – but believe there is also a lot there to read and ponder – as the witnesses did in their own day. The second half of the reading is said in Morning Prayer and has become a welcome friend to me – these messages of hope that can be memorized and recited to give us hope. This reading, in concert with the Genesis and the 1 Chronicles gives me a richer understanding of the message God gives us through his Word.

Today’s readings: Psalm 2, Genesis 3, 1Chronicles 3, Luke 1:57-80

Through the Bible in one year - Day 2

Psalm 1:4

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Sitting in my chair in the sunny window the other day, I watched as the wind blew the softest and lightest particles of snow across the top of the frozen back yard. This is what I thought of as I read this verse today from Psalm 1. I have a friend who has put this Psalm to music and I hear his voice often as I read this, the first of the Psalms. Today, however I was stopped by this idea of the chaff being blown away by the wind. A Little further we read in verse 6: for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. What chaff do we have in our lives that is in need of the Lord’s wind to blow away, to keep us from suffering this same fate?

In Genesis we are resting on the seventh day, before reading of the creation of Man and Woman – and they shall be made one flesh and leave their families to forge a new one together; in Chronicles we continue reading of the lineage from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob…and now through to David.

And yesterday in Luke we read of Zechariah being visited by the Angel Gabriel, while today we have Mary after her visit from this same Angel going to see her cousin Elizabeth. This Angel is a fearsome visitor if everyone who hears from him is sore afraid. I spoke with my niece once who was having trouble sleeping and talked to her about the angels round about; she and her sister had recently sung in a Christmas pageant and were mindful of the effect Angels had on those they visited. My niece was reassured to know that these fearsome protectors were set to guard her while she slept – and I think she found solace in the knowledge, I know I would if the need arose.

So, here at the end of the second chapter of Luke we hear Mary sing:

 “My soul magnifies the Lord,

     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

    and holy is his name.

 And his mercy is for those who fear him

    from generation to generation.

 He has shown strength with his arm;

    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

    and exalted those of humble estate;

 he has filled the hungry with good things,

    and the rich he has sent away empty.

 He has helped his servant Israel,

    in remembrance of his mercy,

 as he spoke to our fathers,

    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

For today, then I see that reading of these forefathers at the same time as Mary’s rejoicing brings a clearer understanding of who these people were – and at the same time I am mindful of the need not to be blown away like the chaff or sent away empty from His throne.

Today’s readings Psalm 1, Genesis 2, 1 Chronicles 2, Luke 1:26-56

Through the Bible in one year - Day 1

Today is the first day of the New Year.
One in which I intend to read through the Bible in its entirety.

By way of introduction, I will use the ESV Study Bible from YouVersion as my guide (in case you wish to follow along with me - or go ahead and choose a plan of your own - there are pages of offerings)

This reading plan has four types of literature each day; Psalms & Wisdom, Pentateuch & History, Chronicles & Prophets and Gospels and Epistles. I like the idea of looking at the Bible in this way, of getting a feel for the whole thing all at once rather than working my way through from beginning to end or even chronologically. I am hoping this may offer a new insight and a new connection with the people and the writers and of course our God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Today begins with a reading from Ecclesiastes. Verse 3:1 says; For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven - This, I think is a good place to begin. It is indeed a season whose time has come.

Join me and read along with me if you wish, I'm certain all of us will be changed together for the better. This season of knowing God's plan for us is the best season there is.

Genesis 1:14: And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,"

Readings today: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Genesis 1, 1 Chronicles 1, & Luke 1:1-25

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. This has been a favorite directive of mine for years. It comes from a collect in the Book of Common Prayer. The entire thing goes like this: 

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 236)

As I walked this morning, this verse came to mind and I thought about it in a new way; and that is, it is a progression that begins with reading the Scriptures. Without having done that, the entire thing falls flat-and there is no going forward beyond that; no way to mark and learn without having read them first, and no way to read them if one hadn’t at least heard of them first. (Notice the hearing comes first in the collect.)

This reading bit I think is a stumbling block for many of us: Taking the time to read what God says is the beginning-and not the end, yes it is a goal-but the culmination of this goal is getting to know the author. That is where the “inwardly digest” bit comes in. when we eat-whatever we eat, that something becomes a part of us, it is a building block (hopefully and not total junk-but that is another discussion), it is incorporated into our very being-it forms our cells and so grows us into who we are.

This is the inward digestion that is being called for in this prayer; that the Word might so become a part of us that it is integral to who we are, how we think, what we do, and how we perceive and respond to the world around us. For today, I pray that I might READ, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Word of the Lord-and so get to know the author in a deeper way. Amen.

Bless and do not curse

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)

What shall we do with this? After all, we are called to live the good news. There are many opportunities to do something other than this-to revile, to complain, to dishonor others with our thoughts, our words or our actions. I read today of a murder depicted live on Egyptian news television. The response was not along these lines-and you might say “who can blame them/us/me?” But, this passage calls for a different response-“bless and do not curse.”

I find it interesting here that God knows our spirit well enough to give us this point: in this way “you will heap burning coals on his head.” Is it in knowing how these acts of kindness will be received that our vindictive nature would be satisfied? Obviously, there is more to this passage than that. How do we reconcile the gut reaction of our inner selves with this call to “bless those who persecute” us?

Yesterday evening a friend and I were conversing about not having our attitude shaped by others, not having our day ruined by someone else’s bad behavior, even if it was directed at us-or perpetrated in our vicinity. Normally this doesn’t rise to the level of bloodshed-but of course as the news is full of violent incidents it can come to that-what does Paul say in this letter to the Romans? He says not to be “overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Here is a passage a bit earlier in Romans: (Romans 5:1-5)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What I suggested to my friend was: you don’t have to have someone else’s bad day. What Paul says here is similar and in another instance in 2 Timothy 4:7 he says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” It is this finishing that matters-it is this fight that matters. In the end…we need to keep our eyes on Jesus-and all else will fade out of focus. Yes, still there-but not as important as knowing Him and following Him.